It was a tough weekend for the Barrhead Bombers.
On the weekend of Oct. 26 and 27, the Bombers lost a pair of home games at the Barrhead Agrena extending their losing streak to three games.
On the first night of the homestand, the Bombers lost to the Hinton Timberwolves 7-2.
Despite the one-sided score general manager and head coach Todd White said the team played well for the most part.
“We got into penalty trouble, especially in the second period and that is what cost us,” he said. “For the majority of the [second], it was five-on-four and that is when they did most of their damage.”
The next day, an afternoon start, against the Edson Aeros, in a much closer game than the scoreboard or shot-clock indicated, Barrhead lost 6-4.
Edson struck first, scoring nine minutes into the period. Barrhead managed to hold the Aeros off the scoreboard for the rest of the period despite being outshot 21-3.
Forty seconds into the second period, the Aeros would extend their lead.
About three minutes later Barrhead narrowed the lead thanks to a goal by alternate captain Stran Backfat Redcrow, assisted by Raf Lambert Dodginghorse and newly acquired defenceman Yostin Gunner.
Until a few days ago, Gunner was actually on the Aeros.
“He wasn’t playing much for them and when I saw he was available, I quickly snatched him up,” White said, adding he was looking to add to his defensive depth. His addition and that of winger Ethan Gourley brings the Bombers roster to 19 (nine forwards, six defencemen and four goaltenders).
Gunner, a Quebec product besides bringing defensive depth, brings size (6’3”), something White said has been lacking. Gourley is an Alberta native who last played AA Midget on the Strathcona Warriors.
Edson restored its two-goal advantage scoring just short of the nine-minute mark.
Redcrow would cut into Edson’s lead three minutes later on a goal assisted by Dodginghorse and captain Kierun White.
Sadly for Barrhead, the Aeros would score three unanswered goals, two before the end of the period and one in the first minute of the third period.
Barrhead would make the score respectable thanks to two goals, the first one from Dmitro Kobylnyk assisted by White at about the seven-minute mark. The next about 30 seconds later by Dodginghorse assisted by Redcrow and Wassim Saidani.
Unfortunately, that was as close as the Bombers would get, although they did have a couple of chances to narrow the gap on a late power play.
Barrhead goaltender Ian Soltar stopped 38 out of 44 in a losing effort.
After the game, White said the team played extremely well and held a veteran Edson squad in check.
“This is a team that has been blowing out teams all season and we were right in it to the end, losing by only two goals,” he said.
The win brings the Aeros record to 8-1, good enough for second place in the Western States Hockey League’s (WSHL) Provincial Division. Last year in their inaugural season Edson travelled down to Ogden, Utah to take part in the 2019 Thorne Cup, which was won by the El Paso Rhinos.
At 2-6, the Bombers currently sit third, in the four-team division ahead of Cold Lake.
White added he is especially pleased to be able to keep Edson’s Sebastian Heden to only one point (a goal in the second period).
“This is a guy who had 148 points last season,” he said.
Going into the game, White said their strategy was to try to keep them to the perimeter and play physical. “Although Edson is a really good team they are not known for their physical play,” White said. “We knew we were going to take penalities but that was OK as long as we brought someone with us.”
He added going into the season he expected there were going to be a few tough nights, noting the Bombers, who are for all purposes are an expansion team, is one of the youngest team’s in the league.
“We only have one or two eighteen and nineteen-year-olds, the rest are 17 and even 16,” it is going to be a learning experience. As long as they work hard and keep learning that’s the most important thing,” White said.
The Bombers’ next game is Nov. 1 at the Barrhead Agrena. The puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
